


Moving on

by SchnellerGeist



Category: Mass Effect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-22 00:12:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7410760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SchnellerGeist/pseuds/SchnellerGeist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After what happened in the reaper war, Shepard is depressed and has given up on life. However, that is about to change when the most unexpected guest arrives at his door...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for kmeme. Had a dream like this and just had to put it down on a paper. Enjoy. :-)

**Elysium, many years after the reaper war.**

Just like everyday after work, Shepard returned to his apartment carrying a suitcase in one hand and a takeout food in the other. Leaving the suitcase by the door, he walked inside and sat down on the couch.

He cursed when he sat on an old food box from the previous night. He grabbed it angrily from beneath him and threw it on the floor somewhere behind.

He then turned on the TV to watch the news as he began to eat his takeout. After a moment, seeing as there was nothing interesting going on, he turned the TV off again and ate the food in silence.

_This was his life now._

Like Jon Grissom a few decades ago, Benjamin Shepard also settled on this backwater planet in a self imposed exile. Since then, he adamantly refused any contact with the wider galaxy.

As he was still too young to retire, he continued to work. 

But not for the Alliance or the Spectres anymore. These days, he was a head of security for a minor biomedical corporation that was based on Elysium. It seemed like a big let down from his previous days of glory but he received a steady paycheck and had regular working hours. 

And most importantly, nobody wanted anything from him beyond his official contract. Nobody would ask him to save the galaxy or sacrifice others for the greater good… not anymore.

After what happened… he was just so sick of it all.

While he ate his dinner, he suddenly heard a door bell ringing. Putting his food down on the messy table, he walked towards the door, wondering who it could be.

Nobody visited him anymore. Not unless it was landlord collecting a rent or various uninvited solicitors. And he preferred it that way.

“Coming!” he yelled when the door bell sounded again, the person on the other side clearly impatient.

He opened the door and saw the single most improbable person standing on the other side.

“Aria T’Loak… this is unexpected. To what do I owe the pleasure?” he said in sarcastic voice. In truth, he did not really care. He was surprised to see Aria here but whatever she wanted to tell him, he was certain he was not interested to hear it.

“Shepard…” Aria replied, detecting the tone of his voice. Without any invitation or permission, she merely pushed him aside as she waltzed into his apartment.

He was about to tell her off but then he merely shrugged. He closed the main door and followed Aria inside. He found the asari standing inside his living room, scanning it with her eyes.

It was not a pretty side. Shepard had no reason to clean up regularly and many parts of the room had wrappings and old food boxes randomly tossed about.

“What a dump…” Aria remarked in disgusted voice.

Shepard ignored her as he sat on the couch and picked up his dinner again. “Well, feel free to depart this dump any time…”

“You’re not even curious why I came?” she asked.

“Nope.”

“Damn it, Shepard! How long are you going to be doing this to yourself, hm?” she yelled at his sitting form while maintaining her standing position. 

“I don’t know… how long do humans live these days?” he brushed her off.

“She’s been gone for years now… it’s time to move on,” Aria told him.

Shepard smirked at her sadly. “Don’t bother… heard that one too many times to count.”

Aria crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, well those were therapists. They were paid to say that. My advice is 100% honest… walk out of this dump and go get a life.”

Shepard shook his head. “And what would you do, hmm? If something like that happened to Tevos? What would you do? Where would you be?”

Aria sighed as she thought about his words. “Probably where you are right now…” she finally admitted. “But I am asari… I can afford to spend few decades sulking. You can’t.”

“Well, my Cerberus implants will earn me at least an extra century of _sulking_ , so that’s something to look forward to,” he replied sarcastically. “Is that why you came here? You were concerned about my life choices?”

Aria flashed him a frown. Shepard then jumped in his seat as his guest suddenly activated her biotics. He thought she was going to attack him but she only used her powers to aggressively push the garbage away from one of the chairs.

“Honestly… no, Shepard,” she told him even as she carefully sat down in the now free chair and faced him. “I could care very little if you chose to spend the rest of your live rotting in this dirty hole.”

Shepard stared at her for a moment before he sighed. “Why did you come, Aria…”

“Ah, so you are curious after all.”

“If it gets you to change the topic… sure.”

Aria decided to take this cue. “What I am about to tell you will probably be a shock to you…” she started.

“You will find that I am not easily shocked these days,” Shepard replied as he continued to casually eat his thai food.

Aria smirked. “You better hold that thought,” she warned him before continuing. “Back during the war… do you remember what happened in Afterlife after you helped me take back the station? After you allowed me to kill that bastard Petrovski?”

Shepard thought back to that day and actually smiled a little. “Yeah, you were so excited that you kissed me for a few seconds... sounds like a lifetime ago now…” he said dreamily before his gloomy mood returned. “What of it?”

“Well… I did more than just kiss you,” Aria said, actually sounding guilty this time and not as cocky as usual. “You can still remember me being excited… because I also briefly melded with you during that kiss.”

That surprised Shepard. “Huh… did not know even know that. So?” he again prompted, still not seeing what Aria was getting to.

“Shepard… did it ever occur to you that my daughter was born about ten months after that day?”

Shepard said he was not easily surprised these days but that did it. He put his takeout on the table.

“Wait… what?” he asked, shocked by the implications. “Do you mean that your eldest daughter…?”

“You are her biological father,” Aria confirmed.

Shepard stared at her as his world started to spin. “How is that possible? We only kissed… _and melded_ for about two seconds!”

“That’s all it takes…” Aria informed him as he opened his mouth in shock.

“But I had no idea! How could you do something like this?!” he screamed at her. He stood up and started pacing across the room. “You used me to get pregnant and did not even tell me? Not even after she was born?!”

Aria sighed as she watched his angry outburst. “I did not come to debate the morality of the choice I made that day… or the ones that I continued to make every day since then. I had time to think about it for years… and what’s done is done.”

“That’s it?!” Shepard asked incredulously as he stopped pacing.

“What do you want me to say?” Aria asked him as she stood up and faced him. 

“Yes, I am sorry I used you that day. I was so euphoric from our victory and angry over loosing Nyreen. And then watching you fight like that… I simply needed to preserve that strength and ferocity in my child. No matter how selfish, illogical, and immoral that sounds now…”

“And yes. I am very sorry that I never told you the truth until now…”

“But I am NOT going to apologize to you for my daughter’s existence,” she said resolutely. “Don’t ever want that from me…”

Shepard shook his head as he was overwhelmed by what he heard. “Why tell me now then?! Why did you come?”

“I came… because of her.”

“Why? What happened?” he immediately asked.

“Two weeks ago… we told her the truth.”

“ _We?_ ” Shepard asked.

“Tevos and I,” Aria clarified.

“She knows…? That she’s not father of – ?”

Aria immediately interrupted him. “She IS her father,” she stressed. “She has been father to her since she was born… that is not going to change.”

“But yes, she knows everything. I told her a long time ago.”

“When?”

“Right after Omega…” Aria explained. “It was actually at her insistence that we told her the truth. Our daughter is now old enough to understand and cope with it and my bondmate insisted that she had the right to know her biological other parent…”

Shepard kept shaking his head. “This is just too much… what do you even want from me?” 

“It’s pretty obvious you don’t want me in your daughter’s life and I highly doubt you are going to sue me for child support, so… why did you even bother telling me?”

“Because after we told her…” Aria began, choosing the next words carefully. “She wants to meet you, Shepard… _our daughter_ wants to meet you.”

“She does?” he said in surprise.

“For the record, I was against it…” Aria said mercilessly. “But I was overruled.”

“So… listen carefully because here is what is going to happen…” she told him and Shepard listened closely.

“My family is taking a vacation here on Elysium right now. They are all here. Tomorrow at 1 PM, we and both our girls are going for lunch at the Icy hill….” 

She asked him whether he knew the restaurant and Shepard nodded.

“If you want to meet our daughter, be at the restaurant at that time and you can. If you don’t… well, don’t come anywhere near us again.”

Shepard stared at her as he pondered the ultimatum. “Ok, I’ll… I’ll think about it…”

Aria shook her head furiously. “Absolutely not!” she said resolutely. “I will not let you keep her hopes up and then letting you crush her by deciding not to show up at the last minute.”

“I want a final decision from you… either you promise to show up or you don’t… and I want it by the end of the day.

“I-” 

Shepard wanted to protest. Protest how unfair the entire situation was to him. But he knew that Aria had to think about her daughter’s well being first. “Ok. I’ll let you know by then…”

Aria nodded. “Good… the restaurant is not cheap. Do you need money?” she asked, implying that she was willing to make a donation if necessary.

“I’ll manage… thanks,” he growled. He certainly did not lack the financial means to live differently… just any motivation to do so. Aria’s question just reminded him how far he has fallen in the eyes of other people though.

“One more thing, Shepard… should you break your promise, I will end your life… painfully,” she said in serious voice.

“Naturally…”

“Oh, and Shepard?”

“Yes?”

“If you think I am going to let you meet her while you look like _this_ , think again!” she said before turning on the spot and storming out of the apartment.

Shepard was confused by what she meant until he heard her yelling at him from the front door.

“Get a haircut!”


	2. Chapter 2

_**Tomorrow.** _

Shepard came into the restaurant next day, looking his best. He cut his hair and shaved his beard into a more civilized shape. He put on his best clothing.

It was almost like preparing for a first date. He just wanted to make a good impression on his child whom he never met.

A few minutes before the agreed upon time, Aria’s family entered the restaurant. All four of them – the queen of Omega, the former asari councilor and their two daughters. The youngest was still little and held Tevos’ hand as they entered.

Their eldest entered beside Aria and Shepard saw his daughter for a first time. She was not a little child anymore but not an adult either… a human equivalent of a teenager. A quick look told him she had a lighter skin tone than her mother and lacked the sharply cut features that made her face look more pleasant.

His daughter started to look around the restaurant as soon as they entered. When she spotted him, she pulled Aria’s gaze in his direction.

_“First test passed… she did not run away screaming after seeing me,”_ Shepard thought as he nervously sweated into his suit. 

The entire family was looking at him now. Shepard shared a polite nod with Tevos while Aria and her daughter walked towards him.

“Niline… this is Commander Benjamin Shepard,” Aria introduced him to her after they came to him.

Shepard and Niline shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.

“Ok, then…” Aria said, turning to her daughter. “We’ll be right over there if you need us… see you later honey,” she told her and with last warning look in Shepard’s direction, she walked away to join Tevos and her youngest at their own table, leaving Niline alone with the commander.

The human and the young asari sat down at their table. There was silence as he and Niline looked at each other awkwardly with occasional exchange of smiles.

Shepard was lost at words.

_“How do you start a conversation like this?”_ he thought desperately before deciding to wing it.

“So… this is weird, right?” he finally spoke, realizing too late how lame he sounded. _“Stupid, stupid…”_ he silently cursed himself.

However, to his amazement Niline smiled and gave him a nod. “Totally… so weird,” she agreed.

This shared impression of theirs broke the silence and Niline began to talk.

“When they told me, I thought mom was just joking…” the asari teenager spoke and Shepard listened. “…but then dad went on and confirmed it… the famous Shepard was my bio dad! How weird is that?!” she spoke with excitement.

Shepard smiled and nodded. “Yeah.”

_“At least she does not seem to loath the idea…”_ he thought. His asari daughter obviously saw him as the legend he used to be… he hoped she would not be too disappointed when she got to know the real him.

Niline then gave him a strange long look and then smiled bashfully and looked away.

“What is it?” Shepard asked, her infections smile prompting one of his own.

Niline looked straight at him. “We have same eyes…” she mumbled quietly.

Shepard looked at her carefully and realized she was right. Her eyes were staring at him from the mirror each morning… minus the age and worries. The realization threatened to bring him to tears and he was grateful when she spoke again, changing the topic.

“I am so glad we could meet today…I wanted to thank you.” 

“For what?” he raised an eyebrow.

Niline was in a good mood and Shepard was glad how well this was going so far. Part of him expected that she would hate him. What happened wasn’t technically his fault but nevertheless, he missed a lot of her birthdays.

“For saving the galaxy!” she exclaimed as if the answer was obvious and he should not have even asked. “I read everything about the war… none of my family would be here today if not for you… **_I_** would not be here… so, thank you Commander.”

Shepard was deeply touched. “You are very welcome Niline,” he smiled warmly at her. “And please… call me Ben.”

After the reaper war, Shepard attended hundreds of official celebrations and met thousands of politicians and other dignitaries. They all would thank him for saving them. It was their job and their electorate expected it of them. Shepard’s job was to smile and accept their praise. But he never saw these people before and did not care about their insincere words.

Now there was an asari child saying the same words. Technically, he never saw her before either but knowing who she was… for the first time, he was grateful to hear those simple words. _“Thank you for saving me…”_

Meanwhile, the waiter came to their table to take their order. Shepard told him his and allowed Niline to choose what she wanted. When he went away, they continued their conversation.

“Tell me how you first met mom…” Niline suggested as she sipped the fruit juice that she ordered before to drink. Shepard smiled as he began to narrate his first experience with Aria T’Loak to her…

Perhaps Niline was expecting some romantic story but when he told her how the “Queen of Omega summoned him to her throne the minute he entered into her domain” she seemed to equally like it. 

In fact she burst out laughing, spilling some of the juice on the table.

Early during the lunch, Shepard could see Niline’s parents glancing at their table in worry. But when they saw that everything was going well, they became calmer. Shepard and his daughter continued to talk even after they brought them their meals and then finally over desserts…

There was too much to talk about for such a short time they had but they did their best. Niline would tell him all about her hobbies, her school, her friends…

As for Shepard, there was not much to speak of about the last few years of his life but he had deep pool of stories from Normandy that he could dip into. And seeing as Niline was one of those children who grew up on the cartoons and movies of his adventures, she was very eager to listen to the real version.

Their time finally came to an end when Niline’s younger sister became fussy and her parents had no choice but to end their stay at the restaurant.

“I have to go… dad is signaling me…” Niline sighed when she saw Tevos waving her over.

Shepard nodded in understanding as both of them stood up and started to say goodbyes. 

“It was very nice to meet you today, Niline.” 

He tried to keep his voice calm and even but sadly, his daughter must have detected a gleam of sadness in his eyes when she spoke of Tevos as her _dad_.

“Oh, I am sorry… I didn’t mean to –“ she started but Shepard interrupted her as he put a hand on her arm.

“Don’t be… she _is_ your father and I would never want to come between you,” he told her quietly. “None of what happened is your fault. Not one bit… never forget that.” 

Niline swallowed hard. “Thank you…” she whispered before hugging him tightly.

It was clear that the dilemma of her situation was weighting on her mind and his selfless words just eased her burden immensely…

\------------------

In front of the restaurant, Niline and her family were getting into the sky car. Shepard stood at the edge of the parking lot as he and Niline waved at each other before she disappeared inside the car.

However, before Aria got into the car as well, she walked over the lot and towards Shepard.

“Well done, Shepard… from the way she can’t stop talking about you I gather it went well.”

Shepard nodded. “Yeah. She’s a great kid…”

“She is.” Aria agreed.

“I’d like to meet her again sometime…” he asked, hoping that it would be possible.

Aria nodded. “I think she’d like that as well… I’ll see what we can arrange.”

She then turned and began to walk away.

“Aria, wait!” he called and she stopped to look at him. 

“Thank you for telling me about her… for raising her… and…everything” he managed to get the words out before his voice betrayed him.

For a moment, it seemed she wanted to say more to him but then she changed her mind. “Take care of yourself, Shepard… and remember what I told you,” she merely spoke before walking away.

The sky car took off and Shepard watched it disappear in the distance. He then started to walk back towards his apartment but had to stop after few steps.

Although emotionally trying, this day was the best he had in years… 

After this experience, he did not want to return to his old, empty, boring life.

_“Maybe life is worth living after all…_ he thought. “ _Maybe… it’s time to move on._ ”

 

**The end.**


End file.
